1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fabrication of miniature electronic devices and, more particularly, to a structure and manufacturing method for detecting and correcting the orientation of a device component with respect to a mounting structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Assembly of miniature integrated circuits, such as microelectronic and thin-film device circuits, is slow and therefore expensive. Because individual circuit components are so diminutive, typically a few microns to a tenth of a micron in size, maintaining precise alignment with respect to a structure upon which a component is mounted and supporting the component during attachment are very difficult tasks. Highly reliable position control is fundamental to mounting devices and components in the correct place or position with respect to the mounting structures.
A specific problem arises while attempting to properly align particular discrete circuit components, such as thin film magnetic heads, with a mounting structure to ensure accurate bonding, maximum conductive contact and proper alignment with a recording medium. Thin film magnetic heads increase the storage density in magnetic media storage devices by forming a large number of heads simultaneously on a common supporting member. Media is recorded and read as it traverses the thin film magnetic media heads. For accurate recording and reading of the magnetic media, it is important that media head gaps for a particular recording track are parallel to the direction of media movement. The media includes reference surfaces that engage fixed position locators in the media drive. The fixed position locators define reference planes, and the read and write head gaps are aligned with a particular reference plane for proper operation. A slight misalignment can reduce the reliability of the contact and impair reading and writing of recording media.